Handwriting and/or calligraphy generation, which mimics a real pen trajectory of personalized or artistic handwritten characters, is becoming more and more popular in entertainment or computer graphics. Systems that generate such style elements differ from conventional systems that simply print or display a standard font. A brief overview of conventional systems follows, which helps to highlight challenges that exist for handwriting and/or calligraphy generation.
Many types of input devices exist to enter text or handwriting. For example, a conventional computer keyboard is an input device that generates signals as a key or combination of keys is actuated. A chip inside the computer receives the signal bits and decodes them into the appropriate keypress. The computer then decides what to do on the basis of the key pressed (e.g. display a character on the screen or perform some action). The displayed character is conventionally displayed according to a typeface or font. For example, a word processing program may include fonts such as Arial, Time New Roman, etc.
In typography, a typeface is a coordinated set of glyphs designed with stylistic unity. A typeface usually comprises an alphabet of letters, numerals, and punctuation marks; it may also include ideograms and symbols, or consist entirely of them, for example, mathematical or map-making symbols. The term typeface is often conflated with font, a term which, historically, had a number of distinct meanings before the advent of desktop publishing; these terms are now effectively synonymous when discussing digital typography. One notable and still-valid distinction between font and typeface is a font's status as a discrete commodity, while typeface designates a visual appearance or style.
The art and craft of designing typefaces is called type design. Designers of typefaces are called type designers, and often typographers. In digital typography, type designers are also known as font developers or font designers.
Whether a user enters a character through a keyboard, a pen/tablet, voice recognition, etc., for conventional systems, the end result is dictated by the selected font, which has a one-to-one correspondence to the character entered. For example, while a person may enter characters in cursive using a pen on a tablet, the best “cursive” result a conventional handwriting recognition and generating system can achieve is through a cursive font that has no regard for character order, spacing, etc. In other words, the output is stripped of expression. While a user may arguably apply an italicized style to certain fonts for emphasis (or underlining or bold), the end result still lacks expression found in human handwriting.
With respect to expression, a person can express anger by using stiff, angled, high pressure strokes or a person can express joy by using looping, expansive, low pressure strokes. Indeed, the field of graphology is dedicated to the study and analysis of such characteristics, especially in relationship to human psychology. Graphology has been used to assess compatibility of couples, intelligence and even the future (akin to astrology), especially for celebrities, politicians, etc. In the medical field, graphology has a more practical purpose, for example, to aid in diagnosis and tracking of diseases of the brain and nervous system. Courts and banks often use aspects of graphology (or more generally stroke characteristics, character tying, etc.) to authenticate or opine on authorship.
Various exemplary techniques discussed herein can generate handwriting and/or calligraphy. Such techniques allow for a broad range of user expression.